Food service companies use hot liquids in food preparation and cooking processes, and often for cleaning. Thousands of injuries occur every year in commercial food service operations due to scalding from hot liquid. Scalding injuries are severe. Third degree burns occur from liquid contact above 150 degrees Fahrenheit for only two seconds. Similar burn can be caused by a six-second exposure to 140 degree liquid, or from a thirty second exposure to liquid at 130 degrees. Notably, commercial hot water dispensers in the food service industry commonly dispense water at temperatures approaching 200 degrees. Scalding injuries are primarily caused by employees spilling vessels, such as pitchers, while transporting hot liquid from a dispenser to another location.
Currently, transporting a hot liquid in a commercial setting, such as a restaurant kitchen or commissary, involves filling a vessel and walking with it to a desired location. Although covered vessels are typically indicated for such uses, open containers are frequently used. Hot liquid in an uncovered vessel is prone to slosh up and out of the vessel when agitated by an employee's walking and turning movements. If some portion of the hot liquid leaving the vessel contacts the employee's hand, face or body, the typical reaction is to release the entire vessel, which falls to the floor, ejecting the remaining hot liquid in uncontrolled directions and creating a high risk of injury to the employee and other persons in the vicinity. Bums resulting from such a spill come at great expense to the employer due to employee injury, lost work time, and worker compensation and medical claims.
Covered vessels usually have a secured lid to prevent hot liquid from sloshing out when moved. Although this lowers the likelihood of scalding from spilled hot liquid, vessel lids typically have a tenuous connection to the vessel, or are removable. If a lidded vessel is inadvertently dropped, or even tilted over in many instances, the lid may disengage, allowing hot liquid inside to splash out and cause injury. Other problems with lidded vessels is the tendency for removable lids to become lost, or many times simply thrown away by employees, thus encouraging use of the vessel without a lid. The very nature of removable lids encourages employees to not use, or discard lids, deeming them an inconvenient nuisance.
For these reasons it is an object of the present invention to provide a vessel for safely containing, transporting, and decanting hot liquids. Another object is to provide a vessel capable of safely accepting hot liquid from a dispenser and securely holding the hot liquid, preventing it from sloshing or splashing during filling, during transport when full, and during decanting. Another object is to provide a vessel with a lid incapable of dislodging, if the vessel is inadvertently dropped, or removed by a user. Another object is to provide a vessel allowing only a controlled release of hot liquid when poured or inadvertently dropped. Another object is to provide a vessel easy to disassemble, clean, and dry. Another object is to provide a locking mechanism incapable of allowing the pitcher to inadvertently disassemble. These and other objects are more fully discussed herein.